


Inconceivable

by MamaFratelli



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Pining, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 07:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20962523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaFratelli/pseuds/MamaFratelli
Summary: Mike suprises El with actions that put her in a tailspin.With the Winter Show upon them, El tries to save her friendship with Mike the best way she knows how. Meanwhile the Party try to understand what has happened between the duo.Who will solve the problems before the Party implodes.(one-shot)





	Inconceivable

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, another one shot.  
Nothing adult in this one, fairly fluffy.  
Characters are 17 in this, modern au, a little ooc for some.

It was premeditated. That was the worst part, really. Had this been part of the Winter Show that was coming up, or if he'd tripped and fallen and his lips just happened to land on hers, that might have been one thing. But he'd planned it, or at least thought about it. El was certain of that. 

Mike, her and the rest of Party had been on their usual Friday night movie trip - nothing out of the ordinary - after he had dropped Dustin and Will home, he drove her home - as usual - then he walked her to her door - no change there - but that's when it happened, as she turned to him to say goodnight he'd leaned in and kissed her. Catching her off guard like that was unforgivable.

What was even more unforgivable was the way she'd surrendered to the kiss immediately - the gentle insistence of his lips on her own, the heat of his body, his hand cradling her cheek, the quiet moan that had escaped her and the way she leaned into him. It was completely unacceptable. All of it.

When she realized what was happening, El had pulled back immediately. She muttered something about washing her hair and practically slammed the front door in his face. When he didn't knock or call after her, she slid down against the door, half relieved and half disappointed.

He didn't hear from her for the rest of the weekend.

* * *

Monday morning found Mike in the AV room and El in the library, twin studies in the avoidance of conversation, and eye contact. They sat at the Party's table at lunch, trying to be normal but barely looking at one another. It didn't work, Will was sure El was slouched farther down in her chair than usual and Dustin would've sworn he caught Mike shooting a half angry, half hurt look at El's back as she left when the bell rang, without a word to any of them. That day, they spoke only when spoken to, addressed one another only when necessary, and paid no notice to the looks of concern and confusion etching the faces around them.

The next morning Will quietly peeked into the library to find El pulling at her hair, whilst trying to comprehend the book in front of her. He frowned as El dropped her head to the table and began banging her forehead against it, before burying her face into her hands. El swore fluently under her breath, the sound magnified somewhat as it echoed off the near empty library. Will shook his head in dismay as he turned to make his way back to his locker. When he arrived he was disappointed but not surprised to note Mike was dark round the eyes and dragging his feet as he entered much later than he usually did. An angry, defeated El and a sleep deprived, grumpy Mike would spell a long day for all present.

* * *

They were, however, mindful of their friends feelings. By the third day, they'd managed to adopt a veneer of cool indifference. For nearly two weeks they carried on with no animosity visible to the naked eye, which only added to the unease of the rest of the Party. The longer the tension builds under the surface, the bigger the disruption when it breaks in the end. In a town that had see its fair share of destructive events, it was enough to put them all on notice.

This didn't stop anyone from speculating, however. Hypotheses were proposed. Ideas were voiced. The popular theory was that Mike had confessed to El the feelings he had for her, the ones that had been so obvious to everyone else for so long and was met with an awkward but polite rejection. Only an active and healthy fear of Max, who was deaperately concerned about the change in El's demeanour, kept other teams from placing actual monetary wagers on the cause and/or outcome of the rift between the two friends.

Thankfully relief, if you can call it that, was on the Party's side, the Winter Show rehearsels were kicking into gear, with El and Lucas both in the lead roles and the rest of the Party taking roles back stage. As a result they were all to be busier than usual which bought some relief from the tension between El and Mike, which had become thick and stifling. 

El and Lucas would be playing the romantic leads in their adaptation of the Princess Bride. It was important to El to have her head in the game, she didn't often spend time alone with Lucas at least not without Max or one of the other guys as a buffer and the last thing she needed was Mike's kiss causing enough of a distraction for Lucas to believe her incompetent.

El would do her best to capture the innocent charm and beauty of Princess Buttercup, even though frustratingly her kiss with Mike had lit a fire that simmered through her veins. This has to stop. They were friends and if they pushed that boundary and it went wrong, El didn't want to to lose one of her most cherished friendships and whatever other collateral damage would come from that sort of fallout. 

With the show in less than three weeks and rehearsels taking up most of her free time and homework the rest, it meant less interaction with the Party and therefore Mike. She couldn't have been more ready for this if she'd actually tried.

* * *

Ten days into the rehearsals, Max and Mike were in the sound booth watching a run through to establish the audio timings and microphone clarity, whilst Dustin and Will worked on the lighting cues. Max fidgeted anxiously with the promise ring on her left hand as she watched Lucas plant a passionate kiss on El in full view of them all.

"I know there's nothing between them," she began quietly, "but it's still weird to watch."

Mike gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder but didn't reply.

"What about you?" she continued, cautiously fishing for information. I noticed that you and E.."

"I'm fine," Mike muttered, eyes never leaving the stage.

"These rehearsels are intense, I miss hanging out as the whole Party, don't you?"

"It is what it is. I don't think about it too much." Mike responded flatly.

* * *

Later that evening, once most people had gone home and El was running through some of her scenes with the other guys. Lucas took the opportunity to phone Max and check in. He breathed a sigh of pent-up frustration when she answered the call.

"Hey stalker, how's it going?"

"It's going," Lucas answered. "El's just running through lines with Tyler, Matt and Eugene now. I think we have got this. How were things earlier?"

"About the same as before, we are at Benny's at the moment" Max grumbled. "Denial isn't just a river in Egypt."

"Same here. I mean, El's a born operator. She's selling the role like you wouldn't believe. But she's preoccupied. I've never seen her more distracted. Any more ideas as to what happened between her and Mike?"

"I tried earlier and got nothing. Dustin keeps trying to weasel him into giving something away, but he's being uncharacteristically tight-lipped."

"How are you?" Lucas asked, his voice growing quiet.

"Me? I am okay. Miss spending time with you."

"Not long now, this will all be done soon. Being stuck in close quarters with Miss Congeniality here isn't my idea of a good time, either."

"It will. Now go, make this show great and limit the number of making out practices." Max replied teasingly

The line went dead and Max heard a faint noise behind her. She glanced up just in time to see Mike with an unreadable expression on his face.

* * *

A few more days passed. El seemed to relax into rehearsals and Mike seemed to lighten up in her absence, which was extremely off-putting for the rest of the guys, given that there appeared to be no logical explanation for the shift, it made no sense why these friends appeared to be happier apart. 

Rehearsels were complete and it was opening night. It became a blur, weeks of hardwork and rehearsing finally came to fruition. Lucas and El were on fine form and the audience loved them.

"Weren't they fantastic?!" Max gushed. Mike only nodded and quietly excused himself from the soundbooth.

El was buzzing, as the audience cheered. it was a roaring success but there was an ache, that tempered it slightly. Shaking her head, she could only hope the next two nights went as smoothly. They did.

* * *

After the final show and final curtain call, Mr Miller called all the actors and backstage team together and with great ceremony proceeded to rave that in all his years as a drama teacher at Hawkins High, never had there been a finer production. 

Cheers went across the cast and the wrap party began in earnest. Everyone congratulating El and Lucas as they made their way through the group to where the rest of the Party stood. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged, along with an unusually demonstrative kiss between Max and Lucas, before the small group fell silent. El and Mike were standing facing one another, and despite the fact that they were at least three feet apart the air between them all but crackled with electricity. Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max looked on in stunned silence.

"Congratulations," Mike offered, voice gravelly and emotionless.

"Thanks," El returned quietly. When Mike didn't respond any further El glanced away, breaking the stalemate. Rather than defuse, the electric charge that had settled between them seemed to disperse through the whole space, keeping everyone on edge. "I'm just going to go get changed and clean myself up, then we can really enjoy this party," El explained to the rest of the group. As she turned to go, four pairs of uneasy eyes drifted to Mike. His eyes followed her out of the room as the expression of disappointed anger began to settle back onto his face. He took a deep breath, straightening his shoulders and shaking his head slightly. A decision had been made, and without a word he followed El's path.

She was sitting on a chair staring blankly at the mirror in front of her, but when Mike walked in to the room without preamble and locked the door behind him she was on her feet in seconds.

"What the hell are you doing? Actor's dressing room, Mike."

"No. We're going to talk about this."

"About what? There's nothing to say."

"The hell there's not, El."

"Fine. So say something."

"I'm not sorry."

Her eyes flew up to his, widening almost imperceptibly. "What?"

"I'm not sorry for kissing you. And I'm not going to apologize for it, so if that's what you're waiting for, you're going to be waiting for a long time."

"It should never have happened, Mike . We're best friends. We can't—"

"Can't what?" he interrupted. "Be involved? Have feelings for one another? Because I think we both know it's a little late for that."

"No, it's not," she replied, voice flat. "You're the only one here who seems to have trouble keeping your emotions in check."

"You're lying."

"No."

"Yeah, you are," he growled, taking a step forward. El held her ground but couldn't stop the shiver that ran down her spine when Mike's hand reached up and swept her hair behind her shoulder, fingers lightly grazing her neck as he did so. His voice dropped to a loaded whisper. "You're just as deep in this as I am."

She shook her head and pointedly locked her eyes on a paint spatter on the wall behind him, avoiding the honesty and heat she knew she'd find in his unrelenting gaze. "No," she whispered. "I can control this. We can get past it."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Mike," she pleaded.

"What if you don't want to?" He took another half step closer. El could feel the heat and nervous tension rolling off of him in waves, and she could feel the hairline fractures in her resolve split wider with every passing second.

"I DO want to get past it," she lied. "I don't want to break this. Us. I want to go back to what we had. It was good. Really good. I want that back, that's all I want."

"What if there was something better?"

She screwed her eyes shut and shook her head defiantly. "There isn't. There can't be."

"You don't believe that."

"Yes I do!" Her voice cracked slightly, the betrayal of unchecked emotion shaking her confidence even further. Her breath hitched and caught in her throat when Mike's hands cupped her face, but when her eyes finally met his El was stunned into inaction by what she saw.

Frustration. Fear. Determination. Longing. Hope. And something so deep and warm and indescribable she wasn't sure she could have put a name to it if she'd tried. His quiet, strangely confident words yanked her back to reality.

"Then why did you kiss me back?"

"I didn't…"

"Yeah. You did. And it was incredible," he breathed.

"It didn't mean anything, Mike. It was just a kiss."

"Prove it."

A cold trickle of apprehension ran down her spine. "What?"

"You say it was just a kiss and it didn't mean anything, so prove it. Kiss me again. Convince me it was nothing."

"Kiss you again? I didn't kiss you, remember? You kissed me, so—"

And any further argument she might have made beyond that died on her tongue, shoved forcibly from her mind when Mike lowered his head and covered her lips with his own. One strong, sure hand slid around to the back of her head, fingers threading through the soft strands while the other traced a path down her neck, shoulder, arm, then around to the small of her back as Mike pulled El's body fully against him. His head tilted, deepening the kiss, and when he nipped gently at her lower lip El could no longer hold back the whimper that escaped her.

Denial crashed and shattered around her as her hands reached forward to grab and twist into the fabric of his polo shirt. It was all the leverage she needed to pull herself forward and keep her lips connected to his. She felt Mike sigh in relief as his tongue pressed against hers, each of them twisting and tugging as they fought to deepen the kiss, to press a little closer, to hold the other in place for as long as possible.

Their embrace bordered on desperate as hands sought, breaths mingled, and lips demanded. So lost was El in the moment that she didn't realize Mike had backed her against the wall till she felt the cool brick through the fabric of her top. His hands grasped at her hips as he trailed kisses along the corner of her mouth to her cheekbone, the bridge of her nose, her jaw line, before finally stopping to nip at her earlobe. A shiver of pleasure shot through her and when he whispered against her ear she actually trembled in his arms.

"Say it again, El," he murmured. "Tell me it means nothing."

And maybe it was exhaustion from the show, or the gentle, insistent stroke of his thumbs against her sides, or the aching tenderness in his voice as he spoke, but El felt the unwelcome sting of tears against the back of her eyes, and she froze. She couldn't do it. She knew she couldn't say the words, couldn't deny it any longer. Instead, she let one hand drift slowly up Mike's chest to rest over his heart as she turned her head slightly till her nose nudged against his, eyes still closed against the tempest of feelings within. She drew in a slow, shuddering breath before pressing her lips to his once more.

Gone was the desperation and hunger of the kiss a moment before, replaced with a slow, steady outpour of emotion, of apology and absolution, plea and promise, each entreaty answered carefully and in kind. When they finally broke apart, reluctantly surrendering to the need to breathe, Mike's forehead dropped to rest against El's.

"I tried to forget it," she whispered. "I tried so hard to convince myself that it never happened, so maybe we could just go back to how we were, but I couldn't get over it. I couldn't stop thinking about it. About you."

"I tried, too," Mike sighed. "I knew you didn't want it, so whilst you were busy and not around as much I tried to forget. And it almost worked. But the minute you stood there in front of me, it all came crashing back. I don't want to forget it, El. Even if I wanted to, which I don't… I could never forget kissing you. And I'd never be able to stop wanting to do it again."

"Starting rehearsels with things the way they were between us—at first it was a relief, but the longer I was busy the more wrong it seemed. I wanted my friend back. But I want this, too."

"You've got me, boyfriend and girlfriend, best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend - best friends-who-potentially-have-lots-of-mind-blowing-sex. All of it. Whatever label you want. I just want you."

Mike felt El's body shake with quiet laughter as she let her head drop to his shoulder. An easy silence fell between them as El relaxed in his embrace, his hands stroking gently up and down her back, each of them reveling in finally being able to hold onto the other. After several quiet moments, El spoke again.

"You really think we can do this? Can we do this and still be us?" she asked, a faint hint of uncertainty edging into her voice. Mike's arms tightened around her waist.

"I think we can figure it out, El."

And for the first time in weeks, she felt a genuine smile pull at her cheeks as her lips found his once more. 

"Promise."

"Promise"

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback or story suggestion are always welcome.


End file.
